The Chopping Block: Crypto’s Worst Week? Bybit Hack, Libra Scandal, & The Memecoin Reckoning - Ep. 788

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner break down the biggest stories in crypto. This week: Bybit’s $1.5B hack, likely by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, and the Libra scandal, where Hayden Davis exposes the memecoin playbook. Meanwhile, Dave Portnoy rugs Greed and Greed 2, Kanye’s YZY token leaks, and the LA Vape Cabal collapses. But crypto markets hold strong, and the SEC just dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase. Is this the end of the memecoin era? We break it all down. Show highlights 🔹 Bybit’s $1.5B Hack – Largest crypto hack in history, linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. CEO Ben Zhou handled it masterfully, securing a bridge loan to cover outflows. 🔹 Hayden Davis & the Memecoin Playbook – Argentina’s Libra token scandal exposed the insider trading behind celeb-backed coins. Hayden Davis spills the playbook on Coffeezilla. 🔹 Portnoy’s Pump & Dump – Barstool’s Dave Portnoy rugs his own followers with Greed and Greed 2, then mocks them. 🔹 The Memecoin Bubble is Popping – Sentiment shift: retail realizes the game is rigged. Memecoins may finally be out of steam. 🔹 Kanye’s YZY Coin? – West’s team accidentally leaks a memecoin plan. Will it even launch, or is it DOA after the Libra scandal? 🔹 The LA Vape Cabal Collapses – Once a driving force in memecoins, this underground group falls apart after links to Kelsier Ventures are exposed. 🔹 Regulatory Winds Shift – SEC drops its lawsuit against Coinbase. Crypto enforcement pivots from good actors to actual fraud. 🔹 Crypto Holds Up – Despite chaos, the market remains resilient. Infrastructure tokens are seeing renewed interest. Hosts ⭐️Haseeb Qureshi, Managing Partner at Dragonfly ⭐️Robert Leshner, CEO & Co-founder of Superstate ⭐️Tarun Chitra, Managing Partner at Robot Ventures ⭐️Tom Schmidt, General Partner at Dragonfly Disclosures Timestamps 00:00 Intro 01:41 The Largest Crypto Hack in History 03:03 Bybit's Response and Industry Reactions 04:51 North Korea's Involvement and the Aftermath 18:06 Hayden Davis & LIBRA 30:50 Meteora & the Solana Universe 33:34 Downfall of Memecoins 39:58 Hypocrisy of Celeb Coins 47:00 Regulatory Changes and the Future of Crypto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I feel like, you know, I don't believe in astrology or luck or circumstance, but like,
0:06.0	but like, I think crypto got like too high on this own supply post-election, and then now we're having this like
0:12.0	tragedy of calamities. It's like, it's like, it's like, it's like, you know what I mean? It's just like,
0:18.0	we've just, it's just feel like we've been rolling downhill nonstop for three weeks.
0:22.6	Like as soon as Melania, the second meme coin hit the Solana blockchain, it was like all downhill.
0:27.6	Not a dividend.
0:28.6	It's a tale of two fun.
0:29.6	Now your losses are on someone else's balance.
0:32.6	Generally speaking, air drops are kind of pointless anyways.
0:34.6	Unimmed trading firms who are very involved.
0:38.3	D5.E.
0:39.0	is the ultimate problem.
0:40.4	Defy protocols are the antidote to this problem.
0:44.1	Hey, everybody.
0:44.7	Welcome to the chopping block.
0:45.6	Every couple weeks, the four of us get together
0:47.0	and give the industry insider's perspective
0:48.6	on the crypto topics of the day.
0:50.6	So quick intro, so you got Tom,
0:51.9	the Defy Maven and Master of Memes.
0:53.7	Hello, everyone.
0:55.4	Next we got Robert, the Cryptoconassur, and Tsar of Super State.
	...

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